How to make your application a success

For most HR managers, the CV is the most important document in the application and is often read first.

A tabular CV should therefore be standard in the application. Its clear two-column structure makes it very easy to read and allows the most important information to be captured in a short space of time.

As an applicant, you should make sure that everything important and relevant to the advertised position is immediately apparent.

Use facts, keywords and key terms from the job advert.

The motto is: short and concise - that's how your CV should be.


What should I bear in mind when structuring my CV?

Start with a title and heading.

You can also put your photo, personal details and an introductory sentence on a cover page. This gives you more space in your CV for your career.

Our tip: You can find out what to include on the cover page and photo here in our blog article.

State the position you are applying for.

The next points are your professional career path, your education and special skills.

Organise the individual sections ‘antichronologically’ by starting with your last position, your last place of training or your last further training course. This way, your counterpart in the HR department will know what you have recently done.


What information should be included in your CV?

For a perfect CV, all mandatory information must be included. This includes:

• Personal details

• Professional experience / career path

• Education and training

• Relevant knowledge

• Place, date

• Signature
  
  

There is also voluntary information to supplement and complete your CV:

• Application photo

• Additional qualifications

• Interests & hobbies

• Social commitment / honorary posts

• Awards.
  

Our tip: Create an individual CV for each position. The order of the individual points may vary. In any case, make sure that your strongest arguments and unique selling points are at the top of the CV and are therefore read first.


Did you know that there are ready-made application designs and samples in Microsoft Word? They provide a good guide to how your application documents should look. The Internet also offers many free templates.

Or you can simply use the Trenkwalder CV generator on our homepage.


Further Tips for your Application

Pay attention to the overall impression. HR managers respond to a professional appearance - 66.2% according to a study by Ruhr University Bochum.

That's why your application should look like a unified whole. Use the same font and font size, pay attention to indents, line spacing and colours.

Under no circumstances should each part of your application look different and not match the other documents.


Missed the start of our series? Discover the articles on the application portfolio, cover letter, cover page and photo now.

Test your new application knowledge and apply now for one of the many jobs on our website.

No suitable job listed? Then send us your unsolicited application.

Interested in finding out more? Then stay tuned!